The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1887-08-19
Sclett 1f(istellanp.
Flowers and Perfumes.

For nearly century the culture of
flowers on Il large commercial scale.
and the manufacture Of perfumes and
essences. have formed Il special and Ill
crativc industry in the south of France.
The principal part of this dainty man
ufacture is at GraSsc. in the depart
ment of the Maritime \ ps : but it is
also conducted on Il more or less eXten
Sivc scale at SommiereS. Mines, Nyons.
Scillans and other neighboring points.
As the business is largely extending,
and ihe exports Of perfumes are stead
iiv increasing. the American Consul
at Marscillrs has visited the districts,
ana has sent home an interesting re-
port.
The kinds Of flowers principally
grown. and their season Of harvest,
are the violet, jonGuil and mignonette.
which are usually gathered in Februa
ry. March and April !: although in
mild. moist winters the vioiets begin
as carlvas December; roses and orange
blossoms. with thyme and rosemary
iii MAY and June; .iasmines tube-roseS
III July ana August; lavender spike
n;,rd in September; and the acacia in
October and November. The harvest
Of flowers covers. therefore. about three
tourths of the wear; but the season OF
greatest activity is May and June, whel
the roses nd orange blossoms are gath
cred. Thyme, rosemary and Lavender
are among the minor products, grown
principally in rural districts by grape
and olive farmers. who have at home
the simple apparatus required to dis
til the flowers. and who produce Il more
or less inferior class of essences, which
are used to dilute and adulterate the
superior essences produced at the lar
Ger establishments in towns and vii
lagcs.
A. the conditions Of industrial sue.
cess in tlower-growing can be best
studied by specific example. the plan
tation belonging to Madame de Ros
taing. at Seillans. in the department
of Var, may be taken us Il typical farm
1t includes about twenty-three acres
located on the southern slope of the
Maritime foot hills. about two thou
sand feet above the level of the Medi
trrranean. and about twenty miles from
the coast. The calcareOuS soil was
naturally thin and poor: and the oil
i've trees which had occupied the grounc
for Il century or more prior to 1881
welded but scantv and unsatist;ictorV
returns. The slope Of the surface Wa:
so steep. that the waters Of Il spring
which flows from the rock above the
tract could be but imperfectly utilizet
for irrigation. and the land was regard
ed as practically worthless. In 1881
the proprictress caused the olive tree
to be removed and the land prepare,
for flower culture. First, the groun,
was dug up to depth of four feet, tn,
larger stones removed and built int
sustaining walls for the terraces int
which the surface was divided and lev
clled. Along the upper margin o
each terrace Il shallow ditch WAS cut
connecting with transverse channel
which supply the spring water for ir
rigati0n. The abrnptnesS of the slop
will be indicated by the fact that. ol
a tract of eighteen acres. the tcrrac
walls required to produce Il series O
level OF gently slipping surfaces, ar
Two thousand one hundred and sixty
six wards in length. Thus tcrracet
the tract Welded seventeen and Il hal
acres OF prepared land for planting
In the autumn of 1881 forty-tive thou
sand tufts of yiolcts and one hundre,
and forty thousand roots of the whit
Jasmine were planted. and in the fol
lowing spring the remainder of tn
ground was planted with roses, gera